03/04/2016

Developing IoT Devices With Future Flexibility In Mind

By Rich Blomseth – Software Product Manager at Echelon

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will become that next great convergence in tech. Bringing together control systems for lighting, HVAC, security, manufacturing, and countless others will unlock new and greater improvements in quality of life, efficiency, safety, and more for people across the globe. And those companies that are prepared and willing to pivot and adapt to this convergences will see great value.

According to the “IHS 2013: Internet Connected Devices” report, a predicted 50 Billion IoT devices will be installed and shipped by 2025! And what is the largest share of that market? Industrial devices.

Crossing this divide won’t be without its unique set of challenges, though. Companies looking to capitalize on this opportunity will need to be prepared to deliver the newest solutions and backward-compatible IP solutions for open system retrofits. This begs the question: How will all of these devices connect and communicate with one another?

There are numerous protocols available for wired, wireless, and IP connectivity. As part of the IIoT revolution, you will need to deliver what customers are asking for today while reducing installation costs and ensuring future flexibility for emerging networking solutions.

Solutions such as our smart building technology are here to help you cross this divide and thrive with any installed base. For example, our rock-solid protocol stack-on-a-chip solution (FT 6050 Smart Transceiver) supports multiple feature-enhanced protocols (BACnet/IP, BACnet MS/TP, LonTalk/IP, and LON) and applications, with simultaneous support for all the protocols, for the flexibility customers need. This will allow you to reduce development costs with the lowest-cost single chip solution, reduce installation costs by leveraging the best of each protocol, and expand into new regions with the same product.

My team will continue to develop products with these challenges, and others, in mind so that companies can build the ideal platforms for capitalizing on the future of converged IIoT. Stay tuned for more.

Search

Legal Disclaimer
On this site, Echelon executives, employees, and non-employees alike
share their insights and opinions about Echelon products and Smart
Energy industry issues. Opinions expressed here and in any corresponding
comments are the personal opinions of the original authors, not of Echelon.
The content is provided for informational purposes only and is not meant to
be an endorsement or representation by Echelon or any other party. This
blog site is available to the public. No information you consider confidential
should be posted to this site. By posting on this site you agree to be solely
responsible for the content of all information you contribute, link to, or
otherwise upload to an Echelon operated website (the “Website”) and
release Echelon from any liability related to your use of the Website. You
also grant to Echelon a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free and
fully-paid, transferable (including rights to sublicense) right to exercise all
copyright, publicity, and moral rights with respect to any original content
you provide to the Website. The comments are moderated. Comments will
appear as soon as they are approved by the moderator.